A medium to large deciduous tree. Young stems often with stout
blunt thorns.

Leaves

Leaves are rigid leathery with straight parallel lateral veins
and strong spines on the bark of young stems. It is a drought hardy
species, produces root-suckers and a good coppicer. Leaf-blade is
elliptic-oblong to elliptic-oblanceolate, 10-20 x 4-10 cm, tip
somewhat pointed, sometimes blunt, base is rounded or roundly
wedge-shaped, margin entire or wavy, thinly leathery, lateral
nerves 15-20 pairs.

Fruits

Fruit is globose, fleshy sweetish drupe, about the size of a
pea, purple-black, seated on a hard enlarged calyx. 1 or 2 seeds
with fairly thick bony shells.

Flowers

Flowers are arranged in axillary fascicles and also in fascicles
on leafless branches appearing as spikes. The fascicles are either
unisexual or bisexual; axes densely puberulous; bracts small,
acute; flowers stalked.

Habit / Habitat

"It is a tree which is quite common in forests and open land,
reported from dry evergreen or deciduous forests with sandy-loamy
soil, granite or basalt derived sandy soil, and limestone, at
elevations from 50 - 600 metres, occasionally to 1,400
metres."

2) Global Distribution: It is found in Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri
Lanka, southern China, Indochina, and
Sumatra.

Edible parts

World wide use:
Fruits

Used by tribal community in
Jawhar: Fruits, extracts of leaf
and barks for medicinal purpose.

Method of consumption

Jawhar tribal
Directly consumed

Medicinal use

Jawhar: Leaf/ bark extract used for ear ache.
It is also effective on stomach ache.

It has been reported that, the women of the Paliyan tribes in
Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu in India consume a bark extract
of the B. retusa to cure menorrhagia.

The plant is pungent, bitter, heating; useful in lumbago and
hemiplegia.

The bark is good for the removal of urinary concretions.

It is also used as a liniment with sesame oil in
rheumatism."

Nutritional and medicinal information:

Pharmaceutical significance:

It has been tested for the antimicrobial activity against 10
human pathogens bacteria and 4 fungal strains. It was reported that
chloroform – methanol (1 : 1) fraction was effective against the E.
coli, K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa. These pathogens are
responsible for the pathogenesis of urinary tract infection.

Seed: it takes a year for the seedlings to reach 15 cm in
height. The seedlings benefit from shade when young. Each fruit
contains one or two rather bony seeds and the viability is rather
short, about six months. Fresh seed has a germination percentage of
about 75. The pulp should be removed from the seeds before they are
sown, and they should be soaked in cold water for 24 hours.

Apart from seedlings, it is also possible to raise B.
retusa from hardwood cuttings 20-30 cm long and 1 cm thick,
taken in the dormant season between December and January.

Method of storage: Seeds

Other
uses

The tree apart from its usage as a medicine and food, also act
as a source of good quality wood.